What is intertropical convergence zone in simple words?

What is intertropical convergence zone in simple words?

The Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ, is the region that circles the Earth, near the equator, where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres come together. The intense sun and warm water of the equator heats the air in the ITCZ, raising its humidity and making it buoyant.

How does the intertropical convergence zone ITCZ affect monsoons group of answer choices?

The area near the equator with low pressure and converging, rising winds is called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Water vapor condenses as air rises and cools in the ITCZ, forming clouds and falling as rain. This is where monsoon rainfall occurs.

What causes the intertropical convergence zone?

It exists because of the convergence of the trade winds. In the northern hemisphere the northeast trade winds converge with southeast winds from the Southern Hemisphere. The point at which the trade winds converge forces the air up into the atmosphere, forming the ITCZ.

Where is the convergence zone?

A Puget Sound Convergence Zone (PSCZ) forms when strong westerly winds flow around the Olympic Peninsula and converge over Puget Sound. It generally forms north of Seattle, and may move southward to as far as Boeing Field or SeaTac Airport.

Why do sailors avoid the doldrums?

The crews of sailing ships dreaded the doldrums because their ships were often becalmed there; the designation for the resultant state of depression was apparently thus extended to these geographic regions themselves.

How do you prevent doldrums?

Get back on course with these three tips to escape the ‘data doldrums’.

1. Before you set sail, know where you are going. Know your destination.
2. Set a time to drop anchor. Establish a series of timelines to help you stay on course and avoid circling back over the same data.
3. Establish an escape route.

Can the ocean have no wind?

The effects of the Doldrums are caused by solar radiation from the sun, as sunlight beams down directly on area around the equator. This heating causes the air to warm and rise straight up rather than blow horizontally. The result is little or no wind, sometimes for weeks on end. It can go from 1 to 100 in seconds.

Why do they call it the horse latitudes?

Unable to sail and resupply due to lack of wind, crews often ran out of drinking water. To conserve scarce water, sailors on these ships would sometimes throw the horses they were transporting overboard. Thus, the phrase ‘horse latitudes’ was born.

Why is there high-pressure at 30 degrees from the equator?

The air that rises at the equator does not flow directly to the poles. Due to the rotation of the earth, there is a build up of air at about 30° north latitude. (The same phenomenon occurs in the Southern Hemisphere). Some of the air sinks, causing a belt of high-pressure at this latitude.

Why does the air that is sinking at 30 degrees north and south create deserts?

Because the cooling air is above the equator, the moisture rains back down on the tropics. Rainforest and deserts are wet and dry due to the cycle of the air. At 30 to 50 degrees north and south of the equator, this falling air makes dry air drier. It also turns the land below it into a desert.

What is the name of the winds between 60 and 90 degrees latitude?

The global wind pattern is also known as the “general circulation” and the surface winds of each hemisphere are divided into three wind belts: Polar Easterlies: From 60-90 degrees latitude. Prevailing Westerlies: From 30-60 degrees latitude (aka Westerlies).

Why do winds curve to the east?

The Coriolis effect is the apparent curvature of global winds, ocean currents, and everything else that moves freely across the Earth’s surface. The curvature is due to the rotation of the Earth on its axis. Between thirty and sixty degrees latitude, the winds that move toward the poles appear to curve to the east.

What does 20 foot winds mean?

20ft Winds Is defined as sustained winds averaged over a 10 minute period and measured 20 feet above the average height of nearby vegetation. This is the standard reported by the Remote Automated Weather Stations(RAWS) owned by land management agencies and used in the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS).

What are the two components of 20-foot winds?

These wind components include a general surface windflow, which is the wind at the standard 20-foot (approximately 6 m above the surface) level resulting from synoptic scale forcing, the sea breeze, valley wind, and slope wind.

What wind speed is safe for boating?

Generally, wind gusts of 34 knots (39 mph) or more are often strong enough to capsize small boats, especially when they catch the boater off-guard.

How does Midflame Wind compare to 20-foot wind?

The midflame windspeed is determined by use of the wind adjustment table, which provides values in terms of fuel overstory exposure and fuel model. The midflame windspeed will be LESS THAN the 20-foot windspeed, because vegetation and friction slow down winds closer to the surface.

What is general wind?

Large scale winds caused by high- and low-pressure systems but generally influenced and modified in the lower atmosphere by terrain. see also: Local Winds; Slope Winds.

What are local winds?

Local winds are winds that blow over a limited area. Local winds blow between small low and high pressure systems. They are influenced by local geography. Nearness to an ocean, lake, or mountain range can affect local winds.

Does a tighter pressure gradient result in slower wind speeds?

The pressure gradient is the change in barometric pressure over a distance. Big changes within shorter distances equals high wind speeds, while environments that exhibit less change in pressure with distance generate lower or non-existent winds.

Does Coriolis force increase with wind speed?

Coriolis force increases with increasing latitude and with increasing wind speed. It only effect the wind direction, not the wind speed.

Why do low pressure systems cause high wind speeds?

Rising warm air causes the pressure to decrease at higher altitudes . Warm air is under a higher pressure than cold air, so moves towards the ‘space’ occupied by the colder, lower pressure, air. As this happens, it reduces the mass of air over the ‘eye of the storm’ – causing the wind speed to increase further.

What is a strong pressure gradient?

When pressure is different from one location to another, a difference in pressure exists. When a pressure difference exists, a pressure gradient exists. The pressure difference between the low and adjacent high pressure produces strong winds. Pressure differences usually occur as a result heating differences.

What is a weak pressure gradient?

The rate of change is called the pressure gradient. Pressure gradient force is the force that moves air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. If the pressure gradient is weak, the wind speed is light.

What is lung pressure gradient?

Page 4. The transthoracic pressure gradient is the difference between the pressure in the pleural space and the pressure at the body surface, and represents the total pressure required to expand or contract the lungs and chest wall.

What is the formula for pressure gradient?

To find the dimension of the pressure gradient first find the dimension of pressure where pressure is defined as the force (F) applied perpendicular to the surface of an object whose area is given as (A). Hence the dimension of Pressure Gradient is [M1L−2T−2].